Are you comfortable with the emotional side of relationships

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Do you like the emotional side of relationships?
Yes (I'm female) 22%  22%  [ 12 ]
Yes (I'm male) 35%  35%  [ 19 ]
No (I'm female) 19%  19%  [ 10 ]
No (I'm male) 24%  24%  [ 13 ]
Total votes : 54

Alycat
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28 Feb 2010, 4:01 am

Do you find the whole emotional/relationship side of a relationship easy, or difficult?
I'd like to be able to have a proper relationship, but I find the emotional side of things so difficult that sometimes I think I should just give up on that, hook up with complete strangers, and refuse to keep in contact with them.


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Seanmw
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28 Feb 2010, 4:21 am

ehh, i'm not outwardly emotional much.
but honestly i'm very emotional.

so basically if there were no emotional side, the relationship would most likely die quicker than a plant without sunlight.


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Michael_Stuart
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28 Feb 2010, 4:30 am

Errr... Now I'm a little bit green, but is there any other side than the emotional one? (Excluding sex, which I don't think qualifies as a "side")

I'm not uncomfortable with the emotions of relationships.



lotusblossom
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28 Feb 2010, 5:14 am

Ive always struggled to meet partners emotional needs and spent most of the time in relationships being avoidant and cold. I need lots of my own space to which does not help in a relationship.

I find I can 'make myself' be friendly and loving up to a point then its like Im full and I cant do it any more and I just need to be alone. Its especially worse if there is anything stressful happening.

Ive been with my bf now nearly a year and its been such a struggle, we break up every few weeks when we decide we cant do it any more but then we get back together as we are sad not to be together. Over the time it has got easier to be together and knowing each other better has made huge differences in coping, as we can now not take the actions personally and know its just the others 'way'.

I dotn think I will ever be able to be a fully functioning partner in a relationship as I just do not have the ability to mind read or be empatheic so will always be somewhat harsh and unsupportive. However my bf seems reconsiled to not changeing me and staying with me and making the best of what weve got.

I think it helps to focus on what you have got to give (intelligence, interesting etc) and not focus so much on the negatives as it just makes you feel worse and brings you down.



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28 Feb 2010, 5:18 am

Ick, no way. Too much of it gets too much.



MissConstrue
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28 Feb 2010, 5:30 am

No, I can't stand the thought of having to live up to someone else's expectations or having to behave in a certain way that's more than convenient for them.


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28 Feb 2010, 5:53 am

yes, it's wonderful to be loved and understood. emotional connection is infinitely better than physical attraction, which I am averse to.



PLA
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28 Feb 2010, 6:31 am

Quote:
Do you like the emotional side of relationships?

This "side" and cooperation are the main attractions, are they not? Unless you are speaking of business relations, in which case the profit and convenience ought be significantly more popular.


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28 Feb 2010, 7:33 am

I feel emotion, I just choke on expressing it or knowing how to respond when someone expresses it to me.



Descartes30
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28 Feb 2010, 9:55 am

This seems to be an interesting question. I wonder what the vote would look like if everyone on the site actually voted. From posts on this thread and many other threads combined I would guess that more females have a problem with it than males. But that could also be due to females being more comfortable about talking about it or admitting it than males. I don't have any problem with the emotional side of relationships when it comes to expressions of love and caring. My only problems are that I have a difficulty figuring out what my partner is feeling and that I have absolutely no desire to argue.


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orange
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28 Feb 2010, 10:48 am

I tend to be weird. The emotional side of romance always confuses me and I end up wondering if all women just like to play mindgames with me (I have no idea what they mean when they say "You should know...." and stuff like that). I also seem to have a common problem throughout every relationship where I'm apparently not showing enough emotional support to my significant other, which eventually causes the breakup of the relationship, which of course always strikes me as pure confusion since I feel like I'm being emotionally supportive and intently interested in them.

I've always been really cerebral - I like to understand stuff, and I like stuff to be very straight-forward, so I've basically shunned relationships for the last 3 years out of pure frustration. Only a bad thing if it causes some modicum of pain; all I feel is something like relief, since I no longer have to be confused by the opposite sex. :?



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28 Feb 2010, 8:44 pm

I'd have to say no; right from the beginning I'd probably warn the girl that I'd like to start it off simple with no huge emotional attachments.


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elderwanda
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28 Feb 2010, 9:52 pm

I think I would need a few examples of "emotional side of a relationship" and a few examples of "non-emotional side of a relationship" in order to answer.

I love my husband very much. He's kind and loyal, and a good match for me. He's a good father, and very sweet. He likes a lot of the same things I do, but also has interests that are his own. He loves me, too. We sometimes tell each other we love each other, or say kind things. But mostly we talk about movies, money, the kids, our hobbies, and stuff.

I can't imagine us sitting down for a long discussion about our feelings, though, if that's what's meant by "emotional side of a relationship." I mean, how much can you discuss something like that. "I love you." "Oh, I love you, too. I'm glad I've got you." "Me, too! Would you like a cup of tea?" "Oh, yes please!" I mean, what else is there to say?

I wouldn't want to be in a soap opera kind of relationship, spending hours on end trying to get my husband to prove that he loves me, or to set him up so I can somehow catch him in the act of not loving me (whatever that means.) If that's what "emotional side of a relationship" means, then I certainly don't have any of that. That, to me, seems very juvenile.

I suppose this means that I really don't understand what it means to have an emotional side of a relationship. I feel like my relationship is healthy and successful. I've had other, shorter-term relationships which I think were healthy and successful, but each one was started with the understanding that it would end at some point, like a partnership. They weren't completely devoid of emotions, but I don't think there was a specific "emotional side".

Whatever. I don't know. I don't think I have any specific abhorance for the expression of emotions, though. It's just not a big deal.



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28 Feb 2010, 10:04 pm

elderwanda wrote:

Quote:
I've had other, shorter-term relationships which I think were healthy and successful, but each one was started with the understanding that it would end at some point, like a partnership.


How do you do that? I've always been so afraid of getting stuck and having to deal with a messy breakup, I was always running away. Is it an unspoken thing?



Northeastern292
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28 Feb 2010, 10:25 pm

I'm not scared of the emotional side of a relationship. All relationships have some form of emotion to them.



jawbrodt
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28 Feb 2010, 11:12 pm

I'm normally comfortable with it, and enjoy it quite a bit. But, I have found that sometimes i get 'overloaded' and need to go off and do my own thing for awhile, disconnected. I'm still not convinced that I'll ever get over the need to be on my own, completely on my own, when i need it. Maybe it's seflishness, IDK, but I do know I'm the type of person who needs his 'alone time', when my body/mind tells me so. That being said...I can also say that when I have a great emotional connection, I feel great too. Hmm....


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